THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Dennis Leary Speaks)

• THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

Dennis Leary

Denis Leary, who will be playing George Stacy (Father of Gwen Stacy played by Emma Stone) in the upcoming film The Amazing Spider-Man has recently spoke about his invovlment in the franchise.

When asked about the new Peter Parker, Andrew Garfield, Leary replied, "I love Andrew. He's terrific in the role. He was trained as a gymnast growing up, which came in handy. Most of the stunts in the movie are done live in front of the cameras."

Elaborating on both Garfield and Emma Stone, who plays Leary's daughter, Gwen Stacy, Leary said, "Andrew's just a terrific actor – I really loved working with him. I think he's great. Same thing with Emma. They're both actually more mature than I am and that says a lot right there. They're really incredibly talented and really professional. She's 22 years old. I don't want to tell you what I was doing when I was 22. I was very impressed by her."

Leary was asked if his George Stacy would use a cane, like in the original comic books. His reply was a bit interesting for those thinking about the franchise's future, as he said, “No Not yet anyway!"

Leary admitted he didn't have much knowledge of the original Spider-Man comics, saying, "I'm more of a Batman guy. Not the 60s – but the really dark Batman. But my wife was a Spider-Man nut, which was why I went to Tobey Maguire ones. But the thing I liked… I have a good friend, Jeff Garlin, who's a Spider-Man freak and he was the first guy who said to me, 'The first time I met you, I thought you were George Stacy!' This was like 30 years ago. I was like, 'What?!' And he had an old comic book frame that he had saved – he showed it to me on his computer. I was like, 'You're sick!' And he was like, 'No, I'm a Spider-Man freak. People take this very seriously!'

Leary was wary of saying too much about the plot of the movie, noting, "Every time you say something about this f**king movie, they go crazy!" but stressed, "the tone is very different" from the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films.

The second Amazing Spider-Man is set for release on May 2, 2014, two years after its predecessor, which comes out July 3, 2012.

AVENGERS (Samuel L. Jackson)

• NICK FURY, IN IT, ALL THE WAY

Samuel L. Jackson is set to reprise his role as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Nick Fury in next summer's The Avengers and dropped a few hints to BBC Newsbeat about what fans can expect from his performance.

"I'm actually doing more than I've done in any of the other films," he says, "You don't have to wait until the end of the movie to see me. I'm actually around the whole movie and I do a lot more. I have action scenes and I actually do things to people in this movie."

Jackson goes to on to say that the entire production has been a dream job and that he couldn't be happier sharing the stage with his fellow cast members.

"We're all really good friends," he says, "It's kind of funny to stand around in a room and see everybody. Thor is standing there in his costume. Captain America. Sometime's he's dressed and sometimes he's not. Scarlett [Johansson] is there as Black Widow. Robert Downey is there. He very seldom has his Iron Man costume on when he's just hanging around with his buds. It's just amazing to look around the room and see all of those guys there and go, 'Okay. This is cool.'"

JJ ABRAMS SPEAKS MI: IV & STAR TREK 2

• JJ ABRAMS TALKS STAR TREK 2 & MISSION IMPOSSIBLE GHOST PROTOCOL

J.J. Abrams was at the CBS TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour last night to help promote his new TV series, Person of Interest.  A source managed to steal some time from the director and they spoke about his two new films that he will be involved in; Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Which he is producing, the film will be directed by Brad Bird, who previously worked on films like Incredibles and the Iron Giant) & Star Trek 2 (Which he will be Directing/writing/producing). Here is what he had to say…

Abrams & Cruise on Set

Q: Will Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol be the best one in the series?

Abrams: I think it's the best, I do. I think because first off, you've never seen a live-action Brad Bird movie and yet when you watch it, you go, 'This is a live-action Brad Bird movie!' You realize you've been watching Brad Bird films – they just happen to be animated. It's really fun. It's got a fun kind of intensity to it. That's Brad. It's the biggest one by far in terms of the stuff that happens in it. Also, there are other things like a big portion of it was shot in IMAX and there's a sequence on the tallest building in the world in Dubai, where Tom Cruise did I think five days of wirework outside the building that is so insane, you cannot believe the insurance company let him do it.

Q: The You Tube footage was insane!

Abrams: When you see it in IMAX, it's terrifying! It's crazy what he did. It really is unbelievable. And it's weird to be in meetings with him and think, 'That dude was running down the outside of the building!' I'm talking to him. He's in my office. He did that! It's weird. It's like talking to Buzz Aldrin. It's like, 'That dude was on the moon!'

Q: You don't want to be the guy who killed Tom Cruise.

Cruis (Snapshot from film)

Abrams: Well, you're always afraid of that, because Tom wants to do every stunt, but then when he does it, you realize he sort of can!

Q: We've heard you guys are looking to really buckle down now with the Star Trek sequel. Are you getting back in the Trek zone, as it were?

Abrams: Yeah. What's kind of fun about it is there have been a lot of things we've been working on, a lot of important elements that we just know we need to nail down and solve. Once you say, 'We're ready to go, but we don't have our finished script yet,' or, 'I'm directing the thing and here's the release date, but we don't have a finished script,' what starts to happen -- and I've seen this happen with a lot of friends of mine – is you're suddenly in production on a movie where they're thinking, 'Oh my god, we weren't really ready. We thought we'd get it done in time but we didn't.' So while we have the moment, to say, 'Let's get the important things figured out…' Then all the stuff, all the pre-production stuff, all of it will come. But I just want to make sure we're putting the story and the characters, the cast and the crew, and most importantly the audience, first – before we start talking about exactly which locations we're going to be shooting at and what the wardrobe and visual effects budgets are. It just seems important that we get the important stuff right first.

 

Q: Was it a difficult conversation or pretty easy, given your history with them, to say to Paramount, 'We're not going to make that summer 2012 release date, or the movie will be compromised"

Abrams: They so get it. I had this discussion very recently with [Paramount's Vice Chairman] Rob Moore. All they care about is that the movie be good. No one wants to take a step backwards, so they've been great.

Q: Have you officially signed on as director?

Abrams: No, but we're working very hard on it and hopefully we'll have something to talk about soon.

Click here to check out MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL - TRAILER

THE ORDER OF SEVEN (In Development)

• THE ORDER OF SEVEN

Director Michael Gracey (actually the only thing he has been directing is Adverts), will be making his directorial debut with The Order of Seven, which is Disney’s take on Snow White. (Yes, this is third Snow White movie that reporting on)

Formerly titled Snow and the Seven, the Walt Disney project is a live-action retelling of the studio's famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with a twist: this version will take place in 19th Century China and will deal with an Englishwoman who is protected by a band of international warriors.

Natalie Portman Would be Amazing as Snow White... Don't you Agree??

Gracey will take over from the formerly-attached Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, Constantine) and will work from a script by Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3). At one point, Natalie Portman was attached to play the lead, but there is no word as to whether or not that is still the case.

With a plan to shoot early next year, The Order of the Seven should arrive with some distance between itself and the rival Snow White features, Snow White and the Huntsman and Tarsem Singh's still-untitled project

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (Tom Hardy Speaks)

• TOM HARDY ON BEING BANE

Total Film has been quite busy, and they managed to get a few words from Tom Hardy about his role in The Dark Knight Rises.

Tom Hardy as Bane

Hardy, who plays Bane in the Christopher Nolan-directed sequel and is also set to play the title role in Mad Max 4: Fury Road, was asked if he had any anxiety in following Ledger's Joker. "No, none at all," he said. "Brilliant actor, brilliant work – that's it. I've got a job to do. ... It's the same with Mad Max and Mel Gibson. I'm not here to engage in a competition with their talent. It's to play the character that I've been given."

“I think Bane’s f--ing cool so I’m really excited to play him," said the enthusiastic star, "It’s not the guy in Joel Schumacher’s film, but it shouldn’t disappoint fanboys."

Hardy, who worked with director Christopher Nolan on his last feature, Inception, also revealed that there was little reluctance to sign on for the upcoming film, which is said to end the modern trilogy begun with Batman Begins.

While Filming The Dark Knight Rises, Bane in full on the Left

"You’re asking me to come round the world with you in a Batman movie, playing a villain, and the only downside to it is I have to wear a mask?" he joked, "Hmmm, let me think. I’ll get back to you… No, I’m f--ing there, man! ...Any time you put something over your face, you’re going to adopt a personality and a physicality that has nothing to do with acting. It allows a performance to be free.”

Hardy, however was reluctant to share some of the finer details, but the magazine did confront him, if we will be seeing Bane take on Batman in a fight, and like in the comics if the this would end with Bane breaking Batman’s Back.

“Good lead-in," he said, "but all I can say is that Chris has a plan up his sleeve that’s not at all disappointing. And that is a definite choice that’s watertight in every respect."

Hardy can next be seen in Warrior, hitting theaters on September 9th with The Dark Knight Rises arriving on July 20th, 2012.